Where I Stand
by Dr. Sugar
Summary: How do you carry on after your best mate is killed? That's just what Ragetti wonders after a heavy battle on the Black Pearl leads to tragedy. Now the one-eyed pirate must slowly learn to stand on his own- without Pintel. Non-slash. UPDATE! Chapter 2.
1. What Are We?

Disclaimer: I do not own Pirates of the Caribbean.

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This story is dedicated in the loving memory of my Grandpa Bill.

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Ragetti couldn't sleep. He had been spending the whole night thinking. And now that he wanted to fall asleep, he couldn't because the crew's snoring was like being next to thunder. One person snoring wasn't all that bad, but when multiplied by twenty crewmen, it was an insomniac's worst nightmare.

Ragetti tossed and turned in his hammock and tried to get comfortable. He glanced over at his left and saw Marty with his mouth wide open as he snoozed in his hammock. Right across Marty was Cotton, who was just breathing heavily, but had trained his parrot to snore for him. No one really knew how or even why.

In the left-hand corner slept the Black Pearl's newest recruits; Murtogg and Mullroy. They, like him and Pintel, had decided to become pirates after leaving the Navy. Murtogg's high-pitched nasally snore could be heard the loudest over the crew.

Ragetti turned over and saw Pintel sleeping in the hammock on his right. His snore could be best described as a bear's- as was his attitude when he woke up.

Starting to feel desperate for someone to talk to, Ragetti decided to ask him about what he had been thinking about.

"Pintel," he called softly. The older pirate didn't even move. Ragetti tried again, feeling like he was poking a sleeping lion.

"Pintel!" he said and nudged his hammock with his foot.

He heard Pintel give a short groan and heard him say in the darkness: "I swear, one of these days I'm gonna skin ya alive."

Ragetti shifted in his hammock. "Pint, ya awake?"

Even though he was facing the opposite direction, Ragetti could almost imagine Pintel rolling his eyes. "I am now, thanks to ya!" he growled.

"Oh," said Ragetti uncomfortably, "Well then, I was jus' wonderin'…"

Pintel snorted angrily and now turned to look at Ragetti. "If I had a piece of silver every time I hear ya say that, I'd be richer than the king hisself."

Ragetti ignored this comment. "I…I was jus' wonderin' if we was good or bad. That's all."

Pintel starred at him in disbelief. "Good?!" he exclaimed. "Hell, we're bloody pirates, of course we ain't no good!"

Ragetti frowned in concentration. It was hard for him to put in words what he was thinking. He wanted Pintel to understand, but it never sounded right outside his mind.

"No," he said slowly. "No I mean are we good on the inside. Remember when we stole all that gold and turned to skeletons? And when we stole Poppet? We was being bad. But then we saved her and then we saved Captain Jack. Then we was being good. But now we stole the Pearl again; and that's us being bad again. So, which are we?"

Pintel was silent for a long time. The only thing that could be heard was the loud snores of the crew. Ragetti impatiently waited for Pintel to solve his dilemma.

Finally, Pintel spoke with a large scowl and sneer on his face. "Rags, if ya was any deeper, ya'd be a well. Get it through your thick skull. We're pirates. It don't matter if we're good or not. Jus' go back to sleep and stop thinkin' about it." He turned over in his hammock so his back was toward Ragetti.

Disappointed by Pintel's answer, Ragetti bitterly turned his head and starred at the ceiling. He didn't want to stop thinking about what they were. He felt like he needed to know or else he'd never be able to fall asleep. He starred at the ceiling until Pintel's bear snores could be heard again amongst the chorus of sleepers.

_We gotta be somethin', _he thought. _We're not good, but we're not bad either. _Ragetti puzzled over this for a very long time.

Suddenly, he was hit with a new idea. He sat up quickly with the idea branded into his mind- he knew what they were.

"We're both," he whispered out loud in awe. It all made sense.

He and Pintel were near opposites of each other, yet that was how they worked the best. He was quiet; Pintel was not. He liked thinking; Pintel like fighting. He was always nervous; Pintel wasn't. Pintel had decided that because they were pirates, it automatically made them bad. So, Ragetti concluded, _he_ must think they were good because it would be the _opposite_ of what Pintel thought.

Relived that he finally found his answer, Ragetti laid back down in his hammock with a huge grin plastered on his face. Barely able to contain his excitement, he almost wanted to wake up Pintel again. He hesitated and decided it probably would be a better idea to tell him in the morning; when Pintel would be in a better mood.

Starting to relax, Ragetti finally closed his eyes for the first time that night.

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Author's Note: Okay, Ragetti's thinking probably didn't make any sense; but this was sort of what I thought. Please realize I am a very slow writer, so I'm not sure when I'll update. Please review!


	2. Just Another Day

Author's Note: Well here it is, the long awaited new chapter. Please enjoy!

Unfortunately, his eyes weren't closed for long. It was early in the morning when Ragetti felt someone shake his shoulder. He could hear shuffling of feet on the wooden floor and the occasional curse of one of the pirates. Ragetti kept his eyes shut and turned over in his hammock; not wanting to get up after a long night of insomnia and thinking.

"Lad, wake-up," said a gruff voice. A stubby finger poked him hard between the shoulders.

"No," Ragetti groaned like a young boy not wanting to get up to go to school. He pulled his pillow over his face so the bright sunlight would disappear from his closed eyelids.

"Rags," said Pintel, now louder and more annoyed, "I'm starvin', get up already."

Ragetti knew the longer he stayed in bed, the more annoyed Pintel would get. And if Pintel's stomach was growling, his fuse would be getting even shorter by the second. Any other day, Ragetti would be out of bed by sunrise; but today he felt lazy and stubborn about getting up. He would fight tooth and nail against Pintel if he could stay in his warm hammock. Pintel could just wait a few more minutes. But apparently, Pintel was not in a waiting mood; because the next thing Ragetti knew, he was being flipped over in his hammock and being dumped unceremoniously onto the floor. He hit the floor hard and landed with his legs still tangled in his hammock. He looked up indigently at Pintel who had a smug smirk on his face.

"Why'd ya do that for, I was sleepin'!" he asked angrily.

"I'm hungry!" Pintel shot back hotly.

The two of them starred down each other like a pair of angry dogs. Then without a word, Pintel reached down and grudgingly helped Ragetti up. It was sort of their mutual agreement- get angry, say a few words, and get over it. This was how the two of them argued. The system worked and neither of them spoke out against it. It was one of those things that could be settled and agreed upon without words.

The two pirates walked down the stairs with the rest of the crew to the galley; where a healthy and delicious meal awaited them. Ragetti flopped onto the bench next to Pintel and starred at his breakfast- cold biscuits again. One of the downsides of living on a pirate ship is not having enough fresh food. During the first few weeks of a new journey, there are crates and barrel loads of fruit and meat. Everyone eats well and is happy. But by the third or fourth week, that fresh food is either gone or rotten beyond belief. Then the only thing left is stale biscuits. By then, no one is really happy.

The crew grudgingly ate their breakfast, and then made their way up to the deck where chores would be waiting for them next. There was always something to be done. A rip in the spanker sail, not enough rope, a loose floorboard, a filthy deck, and on and on.

The _Black Pearl_ hadn't seen much action since the Maelstrom battle with the East India Trading Company and the _Flying Dutchman_, so life on the _Pearl_was becoming a little monotonous. Captain Barbossa wasn't helping matters much either. He was leading the crew on a goose-chase across the Caribbean in search of the infamous Jack Sparrow. Jack had stolen charts to the Fountain of Youth from Barbossa four months ago and disappeared without a trace. Naturally, Barbossa did not want to give up the chance for immortality again, so his only choice would be to hunt down Jack and steal back the charts. So far, they've had no luck.

Ragetti looked up at the sky as he scrubbed the deck on his hands and knees. Pintel was a few feet away from him, also on all fours. There weren't any clouds in the sky, so it was a guarantee that the whole crew would be sunburned by noon. Glancing to his left, he saw Murtogg and Mullroy coiling rope by the mast. Because the two of them had been in the Royal Navy, they had at least learned _some_know-how of sailing before they came onboard. Cotton was stationed at the helm along with his faithful parrot and Marty was up in the crow's nest. Barbossa was at his table studying charts that could possibly lead them to Jack Sparrow. Today was just going to same as yesterday- dull and tedious. As was all the other days before that.

Trying to think of something to pass the time, Ragetti suddenly remembered his epiphany of last night. "Oi, Pintel," he started, "remember last night? When I was thinkin'?"

Pintel shot him a filthy look. "I bloody well do. Kept me up all night, ya did."

Ragetti was about to shoot a comment back, when a high shout from above stopped him. "Captain!" shouted Marty. "Captain, there's a ship on the eastern horizon headin' our way!"

Everyone on deck turned to the port side and indeed saw a microscopic ship sailing toward their direction. Barbossa climbed up the stairs and pulled out his spyglass. He fixed it on the unknown ship and studied it hard. Suddenly he snapped it shut and marched back down the stairs and started giving orders.

"Move us 5 degrees port and man the cannons!" he shouted while storming past the dumbfounded pirates. "Make sure there's enough wind in that sail to keep us going!"

None of the crewmen could believe they were actually going into battle after doing practically nothing for months. Ragetti whipped over to Pintel, who had jumped up almost immediately after Marty had called. Pintel's eyes had an excited glint to them, the lust for bloodshed about to be satisfied at last. Ragetti could almost feel the excitement radiating from Pintel's body. The grizzled pirate was ready to fight.

Everyone on deck was too shocked to move. It seemed almost impossible that a ship had actually found them. Barbossa turned around and did a double-take when he saw his crew standing like statues.

"Move it, ya bilge rats!" he yelled and the crew finally snapped out of it and began to take their stations.

"Jack" the monkey jumped from a ratline and climbed onto his master's shoulder, while Barbossa walked over to the railings and starred down at the enemy ship. A grim smile escaped from his lips as he read their flag. _If those blooming idiots didn't learn the first time, we'll show 'em again. _The East India Trading Company didn't stand a chance.

Author's Note: I would like to thank **KichigaiKairu** and **Lady Barbossa329 **for the lovely comments and encouragements. But that's only two reviews people! Please review and tell me what you think- it makes me want to write more.


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